Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Live from the OC

I can’t imagine there is a better place for the Red Sox to be right now, after all they’ve been through the last few days, then the calm waters of Disneyland, A K A Angels Stadium.

No crush of media, no demanding fans, just beautiful weather and baseball, and a chance to right their season.

It’s going to be a lot of fun watching Pedroia these next few days. One very real comparision betwene Pedroia and Nomar. The ball almost always seems to find the barrel of his bat, and that’s a rare skill. Other than that, David Eckstein is a far more legitimate comparision for Pedroia than Garciaparra.

I’m hearing rumblings that there was a team meeting before the game. i’ll see what i can find out on that.

I hope all of you are staying up late.

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192 Comments

Hi, Ian:

I agree about Pedroia. It’s exciting to finally see him play after hearing so much about him. And it’s exciting that the Sox have kept a top infield prospect after getting rid of David Eckstein and Freddy Sanchez. It was nice to finally get a break with the Figgins error. That is what this team needs to help get a win and put the last few weeks behind them.

jeff, how can you bring up the 2004 world championship and then preach about nor harping on the past, or bring up the fact the redsox won more recently than the yankees? The reason people talk about history besides obvious happy memories is for patterns, such as the yankees historically being a better 2nd half team and closing the door on the rest of baseball, whereas the sox historically struggle in the 2nd half and if they do reach the playoffs, more often than not will not win it…

the main point about history is not to glorify the yankees during the 1950’s, but to recognize that the yankees are unlike any other team. You speak of the royals in the 70’s and 80’s, but the yankees have been great in every single decade since they won their 1st, they dominate all of history, even in the 80’s they reached the world series, that is what is so amazing, it’s not like the yankees won 10 in a row one decade and we harp on that, they have been great every decade, how do you erase 85 years from a teams success?

Pedroia almost had his 1st hit in his first ab., but our old ss cabrera made a leaping catch, darn!!
Yeah Ian, now I know what our west coast fans feel like now, having to stay up late to catch the game.

I hope Snyder can stay ahead in the count and not have his pitch count run up too high.. We’re up 2-1 now so… Let’s keep those hits a comin!!!!

Vince…here is my response that I posted on the previous blog entry, in case you didn’t see it!

Vince, I’m not bringing up 2004 to dwell on the past. I mentioned that it is the Sox most recent glorious moment, but they should not dwell on it and focus on the season at hand, and the long term condition of the team. The Yankees do have a great tradition, just as the Sox do, and for the matter, the Tigers and Pirates (not incuding the last 10 years, of course). It’s great o have tradition, but so many times Yankees fans bring up the 26 rings. Like I said, as Celtics fans, we have 16 rings, but they don’t mean anything right now. The Yankees 26 rings will not do anything to help them win this year, or next. Instead, making good free agent signings and developing their players might. That is what Yankees fans should focus on, just as the Sox should look at 2004 fondly, yet focus on what the team is doing to succeed now, and for the long term.

Hey Vince if things in sports broadcasting don’t work out, I’m sure there is a place for you in the moving business, lol!!!
That pop up in right was clearly Kaplers, I didn’t see anyone calling the others off, what’s up with that?

lol ellen if I ever had a career in moving I would not have an adult life, mainly because I would terminate myself.

jeff, not dwelling on the past for the front office is the obvious mindset to have….for fans? Well, quite frankly yesterday was history, and while the future looks pretty sweet, it can’t hurt to spend some time torturing sox fans about the past either haha.

Autrey, I don’t focus on what has happened in the past. I am a student of the game, and I love baseball history. I know quite a bit about each team, and history is an important part of baseball. But it has little to do with a team’s current season, and their long-term success. As a Sox fan, I am proud of the team’s history. There is a lot to be proud of, just as I imagine you are as a Yankees fan. I am proud of 2004, and I think it’s great that the Sox won in such dramatic fashion, pulling off the greatest comeback in sports history. Yet, it does us little good now. Just as it does the Yankees little good to tout their 26 rings.

True, the sox haven’t won the division since 1995, I think. Not exactly sure. I would rather the Sox win the division, but if they need the wild card to reach the playoffs, that is fine. If a wild card team beats the division winner in the playoffs, it means little to say you won a division title and lost in the ALDS.

Vince, I agree. Last weekend was a new piece of history in the stories Sox-Yankees rivalry – one that you will let linger for a long time, and one that we will try to forget and not repeat. Perhaps we’ll have a new positive chapter in the rivalry when the Sox play at Yankee Stadium next month.

Let’s add another subtle point to the list of reasons why we are sukking this year… We tend to find pitchers that have no ability to hold runners on AND have a high leg kick. When almost any single = a double, its pretty easy for bad teams to put up runs. I can’t even remember the last time we threw out a runner. Javy Lopez is atrocious. Mirabelli doesn’t look like he ever has a chance.

Isn’t there someone in the minors who can take Kapler’s place? I wonder if he’s going to get a hit before we finally give up on him?

I like Stern as well. However, the Sox are high on Jacoby Ellsbury, so there really isn’t room for Stern with Manny, Pena, and Ellsbury, along with the outfielder I think the Sox will get in an off-season free agent signing or trade.

Guess the combination of the west coast game, and the lingering aggravation over the sweep, has kept many people from posting tonight. I still fee aggravated, but I’m back again. After Saturday’s game, I told my girlfriend that I am not watching a game the rest of the season – that I could not take this aggravation. Then, on Sunday, I tuned in, only to get more aggravation. I told myself there was no way I would watch Monday’s game, but there I was, taking a break from my writing and PR work (I work from a home office, so I have that liberty, and tuning in yet again. As a lifelong fan, I have endured lots of highs and lows with the Sox, yet I support them through thick and thin. It is tough to do so sometimes, but isn’t that what the definition of a true fan is? I’m sure there are plenty of Sox fans on this blog who share the same sentiment. We all have passion for the Sox, which is why Red Sox Nation is an exciting place, even in the off-season.

isn’t that sick jeff? The few times I have been absolutely furious over the yankees there is nothing i can do, i know im going to watch them if i can the next day, it is truly an obsession for baseball

It’s mind-boggling how many different ways the Redsox find to blow rallies. Don’t professional baseball players know that lefties have a decent move to first? Doesn’t Francona know that our players can’t be trusted to do things like bunt or “not get picked off”?

Jeff, I think my point may be not coming across the way I want about the history. The actual teams/events of the past for the franchise doesn’t make a difference what happens now or the future. But knowing what was done to make it work and have successful seasons and get fans to the games and all that, those parts of history, affect the team now.

One thing about the 04 series, I don’t know if it is the greatest comeback, it was unprecedented, but might not be #1, my opinion

Can’t blame Francona for a runner getting picked off. I do question having Youkilis bunt the other day, but it was the right idea since we needed a run, and a successful sacrifice would move the runners into scoring position.

Francona and Epstein are not the problems. Even with the holes they have, the Sox have the players to contend with the Yankees and anyone else. They are just not executing right now.

rayman, just because a pitcher is a lefty doesn’t mean they have a good pickoff move by any means. There’s righties with better moves than lefties. It has to do with how good their balance is and how consistent they can bring that leg up, and push it to the limit before commiting themself to the plate.

Autrey, I do think it was the greatest comeback in sports history. It was took four consecutive games against a very good team, not just one comeback in one game.

That said, I’m done debating over history. Both teams have a great history. You cannot, though, relate to what was done in the 80s, 70s or later to what it takes to put a consistent winner on the field today.

You’re right, Vince – obsession, passion, whatever you want to call it. Since baseball is a game of cycles – and a sport where you can expect the unexpected – you never know when your team can catch fire and start a winning streak. As a fan, you’re always hopeful, even when things don’t look promising.

Not in those circumstances, Autrey. Never has anything like that been done, and chances are, it will be a very long time before it happens again. But, like I said, it doesn’t matter much anymore. The Sox are in the books as World Series champions for 2004. Now I want another one, but I know that it’s not going to happen every year, as much as we as fans want it to.

i would actually, consider it the greatest to sox fans but i see no real diff between the 96 yankees in the ws and the 04 redsox. Yes, the 04 redsox came off a 19-8 loss and were down 3-0, they were also at home for 2 more games.

the yankees were down 2-0 and were outscored 17-1 in the 2 games, and were down 6-0 in game 3 or 4 (i believe 4) on the road and ended up winning all 3 road games and wrapping it up with 4 in a row at home.

In addition, they had to beat smoltz glavine and maddox to do it, and it also broke a long yankee drought and dethroned the defending champions

Vince, in 2004, the ALCS was the World Series. Still, what made the Sox run even more amazing is that they swept the Cardinals. Also, being down 2-0 and 3-0 are night and day mentally. You feel you have a chance when you’re down 2-0. You feel like you’re all but done when you’re down 3-0.

beating the cards had nothing to do with the greatest comeback of all time, that was completely diff, they had all the momentum in the world for that series with the cards, nobody thought they wouldn’t win

Sweeping the Cardinals was a significant part of the history that the Sox made, but obviously not as significant as the comeback against the Yankees. Still, the sweep was impressive because the Cardinals had a solid team.

no doubt it was impressive the cards won 105 games, but the debate is if the 04 comeback over the yankees was the greatest of all time, the ws had nothing to do with the alcs comeback, if u want to argue postseason runs thats one thing (then u have to include the angels sweep too) but the ws has nothing to do with the comeback aspect of the playoffs….i meant gabe btw not gape

I don’t want to debate this anymore. I’ve tried to end it, but the subject keeps popping up again. I do think that the Sox ’04 comeback against the Yankees was the greatest of all time, and their eight consecutive wins in the post-season made the World Series title that much sweeter. But, like I said, it has nothing to do with 2006 and preparations for 2007, which is what I’m more interested in now.

Jeff: Call me what you want to for saying this. It is a great comeback, but you know why it feels so great for you guys? Because thats the only accomplishment the sox have against the yankees and they did it in style. If winning from a 0-3 deficit is so great, that people feel it is better than being a winner decade after decade for close to a century, you should know what other teams (any sport) did it. Right? Do you?

Well guys, This last weekend series and my pulling a 14 hr shift on Sunday, has left me more than a little mentally and physically exhausted. You all will have to do my cheerleading for me tonight, I’m off to lal-la land, see y’all tomorrow!! G’NIGHT

there is no other word except “pathetic” to describe what is happening to our Red Sox right now! Josh Beckettt needs lots more time with the pitching coaches; and he needs to stop acting like a head-case(remind anyone of DLowe?).AND Johnny Damon needs to stop running his mouth! if he had not had the seasons he did in Boston, the Yankees or anyone else would not have wanted him. But hey, he is a legend in his own mind! Rock on!!!

Well, the good news…….we don’t have to worry about Papelbon wearing down any more since there might only be 4 or 5 more chances the rest of the year for him to get a save.
So, Kapler starts even though he hasn’t had a hit in what seems like a month while Hinske sits. Great idea. The whole lefty/righty deal is way over rated. Are all of our right handed hitters going to sit when they face a righthander? I know, I know, there are more righthanders in the league therefor it’s not that big of a deal. These are friggen major leaguers. The Sox just lost 7 or 8 and Francona puts Kapler in the game and he promply strikes out with the bases loaded when they had a chance to have a huge inning.

Snyder did what he had to do. That 2nd run shouldn’t have been scored, but since Kapler was playing in the first row of right field, he couldn’t get Vlad’s pop up. Snyder held them down, and then they have to bring in Gabbard. It would be nice to think that he could shut them down, but come on. It’s his 2nd major league appearance so you can’t expect the kid to be perfect. Once again, our lack of moves to bolster the pen/rotation has destroyed any chance making the playoffs this year.

Think about it: Game one vs. the Yanks, Johnson blew the game. The fact that we were depending on Johnson is sad enough in itself. Game 2, pen blew the game after Lester imploded. Game 3..well everyone loved the Beckett deal so no one to fault their but Beckett himself for his big time bust of a season. Game 4, bullpen blew it with the help of Francona’s terrible managing Game 5, Javy Lopez’ terrible catching cost Foulke a wild pitch giving the Yanks their 2nd run which proved to be the game winner. Then last night: Let’s say at the beginning of the year that we were going to need a guy named Kyle Snyder followed by Kasson Gabbard in a must win 1st game of a West Coast road trip, what would you think? Well, I would think that Theo didn’t his job getting us enough help and that’s exactly what happened.

Now Manny’s injury has all of a sudden acted up coinciding with a big slump?? Papi has no one hitting behind him.

Manny is upset because the scorekeeper gave one of hits an error then takes himself out of a game??

Chicago, Minnesota both lose before the Sox even play last night. You know they are scoreboard watching at this point. You think they might want to come out and show some heart and effort. Wily Mo showed some on his first hit by hustling for a double, but another lifeless game played by a faltering club. I’m glad these games are on the West Coast because I can’t possibly stay up late for every game therefore I don’t have to watch this embarrasment.

I just heard on WEEI what it would take for the Sox to win the East.
The Yanks would need to play their final 39 games at 20-19, considering they have 20 games vs. the Royals, Mariners, D-Rays and Orioles, that might be rough.

If the Yanks play at 20-19, the Sox would need to go 26-12 just to force a one game playoff.

Considering the Wild Card lead is 4 games, we would basically need Minnesota and Chicago to do roughly the same thing.

Since the Sox are 6-15 in August, that might be too much to ask.

On a more positive note. The debate last night about most impressive comeback would have been a good one to be involded in.

There is no doubt the 3-0 comeback is one of the best in sports history simply because of the magnitude and who it was against and the years of turmoil the team/city endured. Plain and simple. The comment by Vik that the only reason it felt good is because it’s the only accomplishment the team has had in 86 years is just plain ridiculous. That’s the type of comment you get whenever you bring up the Sox and then the Yankee fan brings up 26 World Series. The comeback is history, no one is living in that time now that the team is struggling, but to say that the only reason is feels good because they haven’t won anything before is just absurd. I’m sure Yankee fans would be calm and have a ho-hum attitude if they came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the Pennant.

Thank God we’re as far away from the Fens as we can get. We need to forget about the Yankees series. Last night we played decent baseball, but we were killed by leaving runners in scoring position. Pedroia had a nice debut, robbed of an RBI single by OCab his first AB, but coming back with a nice single in his second.
The Angels are a beatable team. We can do this!

Morning all, notice that I didn’t say “good” morning, as it is not.
Once again the bullpen has let us down. As well as lob’s. It’s gonna take a miracle, but I’m still here, and so are most of you other Nationers. I guess we will be till we get the miracle or are mathematically eliminate, I read what you heard gsr, I’m just praying to YAZ, that we can pull it off with a litlle help from “our friends”.

“There is no doubt the 3-0 comeback is one of the best in sports history simply because…”

There is only one reason: because it had never been done before.

That’s it.

The rest of it, the self-absorbed silliness about “the years of turmoil the team/city endured” is bunk. I know this is probably not the best place to say this ;) but Red Sox Nation at some point has to realize that its drama is inconsequential to the rest of the country.

If you want to say that the 3-0 comeback was one of the best in BOSTON sports history because of the “years of turmoil,” that’s fine. But when you’re speaking about “all of sports history,” you have to take out the localized (I hesitate to say “provincial”) factors. Because no one else really, you know, cares.

As for you, hairless, I genuinely have to disagree with you. The 3-0 comeback is one of the best in sports history because it has never been done before…but you, like, completely contradicted yourself. Or rather, you took portions of Kevin’s statement to make sure it coincided with what you had to say. Weren’t you ever taught to take the entire statement into consideration before making comments? Kevin stated that it was one of the greatest in sports history because of the magnitude AND who it was against AND the years of turmoil the city had endured. No matter who it was, and it so happened to be Boston, it was a great comeback. If it had come to the Marlins, who had JUST won the WS the year before, it would have been noted as one of the greatest comebacks in SPORTS history, not just Marlins history. The fact of the matter is, is that it had never been done before, which factors in the magnitude. Because it was against our archrivals, it was even sweeter (but it would have been just as sweet for any other team). And finally, because it took 86 years, well, enough said.

And who cares that Boston finally got this amazing comeback after all this time? I do, and about a billion other fans out there.

I think you missed my point. It *is* one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. But the rationale he used (which is the section I disputed) is faulty.

You’ll notice my opening line was, “There is only one reason: because it had never been done before.”

My point is pulling the “86 years” argument and applying it to the greater sports world is as silly as Dave Robert’s mom saying, “this is the best comeback in all of sports history because my son stole a base!” I have no doubt in my mind that, to Mrs. Roberts, her son stealing a base made it that much sweeter *to her*. Likewise, I fully believe that having to wait 86 years made it that much sweeter *to you (Red Sox Nation)*.

But if you’re talking about sports history in general, those are tangential factors at best.

Hairless, your argument makes no sense and has no merit.
I’m not going to belabor the point past exhaustion but all the factors mentioned are what it a great National Story.

If you want to disagree with my rational then fine, but then you’ll have to disagree with ESPN, Fox, and every other media outlet that mentioned the factors I listed as many of the reasons as to why it became that much bigger of a story.

You are right, it had never been done, (in baseball), before and that in itself was a huge factor. But don’t forget, at the time the Sox weren’t as disliked by the rest of the Nation as they are now. They weren’t a front-runner and have had their many seasons of dissapointment, most of which were at the hands of the Yankees. A lot of the country was actually rooting for the Sox to end the “curse” and beat the hated Yankees. When it happened it was a victory in a sense to all the underdogs out there. And to do it against the team that has held us down for so long made the story that much more special.

Take the Cubs, they are everyone’s underdog. If they were to pull off the same feat, coming back from a 3-0 hole, it would be a major story. Then when you factor in the point of all their collapses and failures, it would make the story that much more special. Granted they might not have same Yankees/Sox rivalry except for St. Louis, but it would still be incredible to overcome all the misery the North Siders have incurred.

I don’t see the connection with Dave Roberts and his mom. If that’s the case, then Bill Mueller and his mom, and David Ortiz and his mom, and on and on. It doesn’t make sense.

Kevin, I think the point he was trying to establish was that the factor of it taking so many years and who the comeback came against are personal factors that Red Sox fans claim make it the best comeback in sports history. That no one else cares about our “personal reasons” why it is the best comeback in history – that these factors are basically only important to Red Sox fans, not to the rest of the sports world.

“Bard is believed to be seeking a major league deal much like the one signed last year by Craig Hansen, who in addition to receiving a $1.325 million signing bonus was given a big-league deal that pays him $575,000 this season and $700,000 in each of the next three seasons. The Sox, on the other hand, were prepared to offer a signing bonus that was slotted for that position, believed to be in the neighborhood of $1.2 million.”

Regarding Scott Boras: Good point made in Gordon Edes’ mailbag today. Barry Zito is represented by Boras. If Kevin Millwood got $11 mil/year from the Rangers, how much do you think he’d demand from the Sox to get Zito?
It would be nice to get a young AMERICAN LEAGUE pitcher that has proven experience.

Clement and Beckett are obviously not the pitchers they were in the NL, and Zito has proved himself so I hope the Sox cough up the cash and sign a young stud.

That being said, why do I foresee a big overspend on Jason Schmidt and then him having an 8-15 year?

Look, Barry Zito will be a top-2 pitcher available this offseason, and there are ALOT of solid pitchers available (unlike the past few offseasons). The Yanks are surely going to want him; Povano was a bust, Wright is a 4-5th starter, and Johnson’s contract expires (I think – in any case, he’s not an ace anymore). The only pitcher who can rival Zito is the Japanese dude. There’s no way Seattle goes after him; they’re not in contention, and he’ll be VERY expensive.

Josh Beckett is NOT a bust yet; it’s his first season. Look at Colon. The first year with the Angels, he had a 5 ERA. The next season, what happened? CY YOUNG (though he didn’t really deserve it…)

I purposely lived under a rock today, did not listen to sports radio, or sports center this morning because I went to bed thinking that the Yanks had won and we’d lost more ground. Oh what a nice relief (a word we know little about in many ways!) to find out that at least we kept pace, and didn’t give them more breathing room.
I’m on my way to work to serve the very thirsty firemen of Fort Lauderdale!! I should be back in time for the 2nd or 3rd at the very latest.

Just checking back in and see the debate over “the comeback” has comeback. I think it is one of the best comebacks in sports. But like I mentioned before it was 4 games in a row, which has been done, just not after being down 3-0 in a playoff series. I think some of the better comebacks can include not just playoffs but regular season, like dramatic turnarounds and such, and not to be mean by bringing this up but the 1978 regular season comeback was tremendous especially the way it ended, coincidentally winning 4 games in a row when a loss means the season is over, however all 4 of those were on the road (a small factor).

Vince brings up a good point about the 96 WS, that was another 4 in a row, and against the pitchers they had to do it against makes it more remarkable as well.

As far as who it was against and all that, I think all that does is make it sweeter for the FANS, and gives the media more stories. If it was against the Cardinals in the World Series, it would have been historic still, but I strongly think it would be much less of a media story.

Although Mussina is absolutley an Ace, the Yankees don’t depend on Moose exclusively, unfortunately. But I do feel better knowing there could be a ***** in the armor of the starting rotation. Thanks for the update Jamie!!

You know how there are things to each of that are like Nails on a blackboard??? One thing that really get’s me is the way the announcers tag these guys with really inane nick names; Figgy, Farnsy, etc, the sound really stupid.. Imagine if we had Teksy, or Trotsy.. Thank God none of our guys have names that you can do that to easily.

Hey you guys!!! TEll me they did not just do this to me… they did not put Senor Ex in??? Yes they did!! This guy needs to be shipped out like 3 mos ago!!!
By the way, when I started calling them the EZ bros, I should have copywirited that nickname… ESPN used it the other day.. Makes you think that they check our blog from time to time

Danmit, we really need this one!! And every one after it. I can’t believe Tito put Tavarez in.. In spring training when he got suspended for 10 days I said then that this guy is not one we need!!HE SURE HAS PROVEN IT..

Ag, I don’t think Vince’s comment was to “kick you while you are down” but instead to take a jab at Ramirez and his work ethic/way he plays the game. I truly believe the only reason he is liked/not hated by Red Sox fans is because he is putting up numbers offensively for them. I don’t know of a single person who has said they like Ramirez as a player that is not a Red Sox fan.

You know, I’m listening to teses FSN guys, and ther eis one, Rex Hudler who started his career down here with the Baby Yankee’s. He was a real Shist head then and he doesn’t know shist now.. He was a bonus baby and never did ****!!!

Vince, sorry for accusing you of kicking me when Im down… as you can no doubt imagine, I’m feelign very stressed these days. Imagien if it was your Yansk who were swept instead of the Sox? I’d imaging you’d be overly snippy as well.

Dear Ian, Please if you can, take an opportunity to ask the players to look in on the blog. With the way that most of the Nationers say “WE STILL BELIEVE”, maybe that could be some kind of spark. I know that they have 34-35,000 fans at every home game and many fans at every road game, but the team should know that the Nationers are here every day, game or not, win or lose. I just think that nothing other than positive could come from it. We love these guys, OUR TEAM!!, and we want them to know that we’re here shouting them on every day. They don’t have to respond (although it would be great for us!!)but I think if they see the support they get here it could be something positive. You are our only branch to the team. Please try to let them know that we’re the ones that can’t be there at the games but we STILL BELIEVE!! Thanks, Ellen.

Vince, sorry about your video game, he so bad he doesnt even qualify as a HOMER!! Just an awful commentator. I know that you’ll be SO MUCH BETTER!!
And Kumar, nothing personal but would you rather keep pace and stay where we were or drop another game. I’m sorry, I’m just looking through my rose colored glasses still, Still believing!!

Man I’m glad I had to get to bed early. From the recap it sounds like the late innings were hectic.
It was 5-3 when I left and figured it would end up about 10-7.

Couple things I wanted to bring up last night, but for some reason this screen wasn’t refreshing and I couldn’t get on.

Bottom 1st on Tuesday night, guy on 2nd and 1st base open, Francona has SNyder Intentionally walk Vlad and the Sox then get out of the inning unscored on.

Last night 2 outs no one on base, of course Lester can’t have a 1,2,3 inning so he walks Cabrera, who promptly steals second without a throw. Seriously, The Yankees stole 2nd at least 3 times without a throw from this guy, now Cabrera steals 2nd off a lefty pitcher without a throw. Holy ****, you know you s.uck as a catcher when that happens. But back to my point. 1st base is now open and Lester is facing Vlad. Vlad is hitting close to .400 off lefties. Since we walked him last night and it worked, we’ll probably walk him tonight and do the same thing, right?? WRONG. Francona allows the struggling lefty to pitch to the lefy killer and he immediately cuts the lead in half.

2 reasons missing Varitek hurt right there. 1st off, he wouldn’t have let Cabrera get 2nd without a throw and he would have been smart enough (since Francona wasn’t) to pitch around Vlad.

Now the pen. This is why I’m glad I went to bed. Never mind the fact that Lester once again proved he can’t go past 5, but Tavarez gives up a run after loading the bases. Timlin loads the bases and I’m not sure what Foulke did but I see Paps had a smooth outing.

Hold ****, if the pen blew this one, the Boston media would have had a field day.

Hopefully Beckett can give up less than 6 walks and 3 homers today. He’s admitted he’s stubborn and been pitching stupid lately. Think he’ll finally realize his fastball isn’t that good when it’s the only pitch he throws? If he started actually pitching instead of throwing he’d be decent. Facing Weaver so it would be nice to give him his first loss

I think that Beckett can turn it around at any given time. However, it’s going to take alot to convince him to change his pitching ways. I think Beckett’s troubles can be directly linked to Varitek’s injury. He needs someone to guide him behind the plate; Javy Lopez can’t really do that. Beckett needs deception, throwing a good curveball and changeup. He hasn’t really exhibited those pitches yet, which allows hitters to comfortably sit on his fastball.

I love you too Vince. I’ll love you more when you write me back. :-P j/k I’ll love you anyway. :)

Good game last night. I’m lovin’ Pedroia. Just letting everyone know.

Hehe, Vince, I thought your “Manny and the hot dog” comment was great. I laughed. Sorry if no one else thought it was funny. I don’t think I would have thrown a temper tantrum about the comment though, if it had been directed at me.

you completely misunderstood my comment abt the standings. I was only just mentioning the teams of interest for Sox and their performances yesterday and today. I was happy even though we didn’t gain any ground so far this road trip, we didn’t lose any ground either.

Ok here is the excerpt(Courtesy Gordon Edes@ Boston Globe)
“Daniel Bard, the righthanded pitcher whom the team drafted in the first round, did not attend class at the University of North Carolina yesterday, for good reason: His signing with the Red Sox is now a mere formality, pending a physical and working out some final contractual details. Bard is expected to begin his professional career in Florida instructional league next month. The Sox, once Bard is in the fold, will have signed their first 13 picks, and also scored high marks from Baseball America for signing three later-round position players”

The Sox are going to be in big trouble if Manny misses any time. Losing him, plus having everyone pitch around (or walk) Ortiz is going to amount to almost 2 lost bats. Someone really needs to get hot in the 5 spot.

He said that Wake’s still throwing on flat ground and they won’t put him up pitching off the mound until they’re sure he won’t be hurting when he pitches off the mound. Look at Red Sox notes on MLB.com.

I really don’t think the season is hopeless at this point… Liriano is still hurt, Mussina just went on the DL, Thome is injured… none of our competition is fully healthy. We just need to wake up quickly and get a few of our key guys back.

I heard that altough Mussina is on the DL, he is only going to miss one start, so the Yanks are pretty much a forgone conclusion to win the East. We need to hope that Thome will miss a lot of time. As bad as it is to wish injury to someone, unfortunately that’s what we need right now.
As far as Liriano being down, that hurts the Twins, but only once every 5 days. His replacement got roughed up his first couple of starts, but pitched well last night.

Hopefully the Tigers can beat up on the Twins and White Sox the rest of the way. Because you know both those teams have some games left against KC. Even though we can’t beat KC, the Twins and White Sox can. So our Sox need to take advantage. Luckily, we only have 4 left vs. the Yanks and a series left against both the Sox and Twins. While it looks bleak, there is still a chance for the Wild Card.

I think we all now see how important Tek is. We were complaining during the year that his hitting was seriously hurting the team, but it’s now painfully evident that his defense/game calling abilities won us more games than his bat lost us.

It seems like every start Beckett has made lately has been an opportunity for the Nation to see the “Real” Beckett and for him to come out and show us what he has in him. Unfortunately each outing has been a disaster. Once again, hopefully tonight will be different.

lol jen im waiting im waiting, expect one tomorrow evening before i get drunk….right now after i moved myself in and helped with both roomates i am now doing move in crew….3.5 hours of moving in a bunch of spoiled brats unnecessary **** such as massage chairs, bookshelfs, giant futons and 14 pieces of luggage. i am DEAD….i can’t even walk and i have a double shift today so at 4:30 i have to do another 3.5 then 7:30 am i have another 3.5 hours, so after 11 and after my nap until like 3, i’ll prob get around to that email cutie.

right now im sitting topless wrapped in a yankee towell with a ring pop on my pinky…i’m PIMPIN!

kumar: Sorry if I misunderstood. There are those who are starting show a lack of BELIEF, and I’m really glad to read that you AREN’T one of them. True fans just don’t have it in them to lose hope until all hope is gone!!! Again, sorry.
Vince, I thought your hot dog comment last night was pretty funny. From what you said you did today sounds like your getting closer to that career in Professional Moving!! As for your pimpin, the images that you projected, were ok, all except for the Yankee towel, Now what I think would look good on you is a REDSOX towel!!!!, I saw on mlbshop that they have a RedSox sarong on sale, PERFECT for your College parties!!!

Is it true that they signed Bard?? That would be a step in the right direction.

Which Beckett will we see tonight?? The evil, I’ll give up 7 by the 3rd or the Beckett we had at the seasons start?? I’m hoping for that one of course. Well

time to start dinner: On the menu tonight: ROAST BEEF WITH GARLIC MASHED POTATOES, GRAVY AND SUMMER SQUASH.. YUMMM.

haha ellen i seriously do feel like a professional mover…..my roomate (one of the two) is a redsox fan and he bought me a redsox rubix cube, i told him all redsox paraphanalia burns my skin at contact so I couldn’t accept it

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